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For second-round pick Arthur Brown, tape has significantly both helped, and hurt, his career.

During his collegiate days at Kansas State, Brown’s game tape showed a linebacker with a tremendous amount of upside, projecting well for a transition to the NFL. However, the tape measure has hurt Brown, as the majority of his criticisms lie within the fact that he can be labeled as “small” by traditional linebacking standards. At first glance, Brown’s 6-0, 241-pound frame is likely the reason he slid down the board in the second round before eventually being selected by the Ravens with the 56th overall pick. Baltimore traded up six spots to leapfrog both the Texans and Broncos, who reportedly had their sights set on Brown.

For the same reasons legendary linebacker Ray Lewis dropped below his listed playing weight of 240 last year, the Ravens don’t believe Brown is undersized. If the league was still full of fullbacks like Vonta Leach, drafting Brown may have been an issue…but that’s not the case. As quarterbacks continue to become more mobile and running backs catch the ball out of the backfield as much as they run with it, speed will begin to trump muscle with the NFL’s latest crop of linebackers.

On Friday, Brown was introduced to the media in person for the first time. Standing five feet away from Brown, I was just as interested in what he would look like in person as I was with what he was saying during the press conference.

The best way to sum up Brown is that if he was standing in a crowd, he isn’t someone you could instantly peg as a professional football player solely based on his height and weight. However, realizing that the Ravens will likely attempt to add more lean muscle onto Brown’s frame, mixing that with the highlight film of him tackling Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (playing at Baylor at the time) makes him a scary prospect.

At the combine, Brown ran a 4.65 40-yard dash, which is more important than his height. Brown’s time was good enough for fourth (tied) out of 15 inside linebackers.

Given the decision of Lewis and many other veteran linebackers throughout the league to drop weight to be faster, I’m convinced that Brown’s size won’t be an issue. He still isn’t a guy you’d want to find yourself on his bad side and if you try to run though, and chances are he’ll catch you.

Just watch what he did to RGIII in the final part of this video. (Start at 3:45)

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About Kris Jones

Kris - or "Goob" as he's widely known - has turned an obsession into a career. As a media member by day and super fan by night, he reports from the Under Armour Performance Center twice per week and brings Ravens news from a fan's perspective. His popular YouTube series Goobvision propelled his career and notoriety amongst Ravens fans, even helping him win the 2010 nationwide DIRECTV Ultimate Displaced Fan contest. He's been featured on shows such as The Jim Rome Show, ProFootballTalk Live, The Sirius XM Blitz with Rich Gannon and Adam Schein, Sirius XM's MadDog Radio, The Michael Irvin Show, Tony Bruno Show, Two Live Stews and FoxSports.com to name a few (or is that a lot?). He's caught a touchdown pass from Warren Moon during a flag football game and hates the Pittsburgh Steelers more than anyone else on the face of the earth.
Twitter: RavenManiac More from Kris Jones

Lombardi’s Way - A column from the 24×7 founder that focuses on the Ravens, the NFL, Baltimore, the world of sports or life’s inspirations.

Word on The Street - In the spirit of the CBS Sports Minute with Boomer Esiason, RSR brings you Word on The Street, a 90 second (or less) podcast on topics exclusively relating to the Baltimore Ravens.

Ravens Links - We’ll give you the best stories about the Ravens from around the web three times per week.

Fanimal Crackers - If you are an animal about the Baltimore Ravens, then you are a Fanimal! Follow the Russell Street Report blog Fanimal Crackers!

The Edgar Awards - The Edgar Awards will range from the Maryland county that is home to the best Ravens fans to the best Ravens podcast; from the best collection of displaced fans to the best local craft brews that should be part of your next tailgating party.

The Road to RSR - Our writers explains their journeys as fans and how they came to write for our little corner of sports media.